Financial transaction approval system and method

ABSTRACT

A method includes processing a plurality of items for purchase using a transaction approval system. Before processing ends, the transaction approval system is used to provide an offer to electronically receive from a consumer at least one of identification of a financial account and approval from the consumer to charge a total cost of the plurality of items to the financial account, and after processing ends, the total cost of the plurality of items is determined. If the consumer did not provide one or more of identification of the financial account and approval in response to the offer, then, after determining the total cost of the plurality of items, the transaction approval system is used to electronically prompt the consumer for and to electronically receive at least one of the identification of the financial account and approval from the consumer to charge the total cost to the financial account.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/601,102,filed Aug. 31, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/884,014, filed Sep. 16, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,260,671,issued Sep. 4, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/413,733, filed Mar. 30, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,801,764,issued Sep. 21, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/942,742, filed Sep. 16, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,512,547,issued Mar. 31, 2009, all of which are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Payments for goods and services with data cards, such as credit cardsand debit cards, has become increasingly popular in recent years due inpart to the ease and speed of performing data card transactions. Forexample, in retail settings, goods and/or services to be purchased arefirst entered into a cash register or point-of-sale terminal todetermine their total cost. Once the total cost is determined, aconsumer or a retail establishment associate swipes the consumer's datacard to access consumer financial account information linked to the datacard. The consumer provides approval, typically by providing asignature, thereby confirming intent to authorize payment from theconsumer financial account for the goods. Following approval, funds aretransferred from the consumer financial account to a financial accountassociated with the retail establishment. Although faster thantraditional payment methods, such as payment by check, the time neededto swipe the data card and to approve the transaction contributes to theoverall time each consumer spends in the checkout line waiting topurchase goods.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention relates to a method of processing aretail sales transaction including processing a plurality of items forpurchase using a point-of-sale terminal that is part of a transactionapproval system at a point of sale in a retail store. The methodadditionally includes, before processing the plurality of items forpurchase ends, providing an offer, via the transaction approval system,to electronically receive from a consumer at least one of anidentification of a financial account that will be used by the consumerto pay for the plurality of items for purchase and approval from theconsumer to charge the total cost to the financial account, and afterprocessing the plurality of items for purchase ends, determining thetotal cost of the plurality of items for purchase using thepoint-of-sale terminal. If the consumer did not provide one or more ofidentification of the financial account and approval to charge to thefinancial account in response to the offer before the total cost isdetermined, then, after determining the total cost of the plurality ofitems for purchase, the transaction approval system is used toelectronically prompt the consumer for and to electronically receivefrom the consumer at least one of the identification of the financialaccount that will be used by the consumer to pay for the plurality ofitems for purchase and approval from the consumer to charge the totalcost to the financial account. Other embodiments, features, andadvantages are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will be described with respect to thefigures, in which like reference numerals denote like elements, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of atransaction approval system, according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating one embodiment of a method of sale,according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top view illustrating a portion of the transaction approvalsystem of

FIG. 1 during the method of sale of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top view illustrating a portion of the transaction approvalsystem of

FIG. 1 during the method of sale of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating a portion of the transaction approvalsystem of

FIG. 1 during the method of sale of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view illustrating a portion of the transaction approvalsystem of

FIG. 1 during the method of sale of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A process and system for approving and confirming financial cardtransactions, according to embodiments of the present invention,decrease overall consumer time spent in checkout lines. Decreasing theoverall time each consumer spends in the checkout line provides a moreattractive shopping environment and experience, increases overallefficiency of the retail establishment, decreases the labor necessary tohandle consumer purchases, and improves the bottom line of the retailestablishment or other entity from which goods and services arepurchased.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a transaction approval system 10including a cash register or point-of-sale terminal 12, a financialtransaction terminal 14, and a stylus 16. In one embodiment,point-of-sale terminal 12 is electrically coupled with financialtransaction terminal 14 via a cord 18 or wireless connection, and stylus16 is coupled with financial transaction terminal 14 via a cord 20.Alternatively, stylus 16 is not mechanically coupled with financialtransaction terminal 14. Purchases by a consumer are processed orentered into point-of-sale terminal 12 to arrive at a total cost to becharged to the consumer for the entered purchases. Purchases includegoods and/or services being sold to the consumer.

Financial transaction terminal 14 is configured to receive a financialtransaction card 22 to access a related consumer financial account orsource of funding and to charge the total cost of the purchases to thefinancial account by way of financial transaction card 22. Financialtransaction card 22 is one of a credit card, a debit card, or astored-value card such as a gift card, to name several examples. Stylus16 allows a user to enter a user signature and/or other confirmationindicator into financial transaction terminal 14, to approve or confirmthe transfer of funds from the financial account to complete thepurchase and ultimately perform the associated financial transaction orwithdrawal.

Point-of-sale terminal 12 includes a keyboard 30, a scanner 32, amonitor 34, and a printer 36. Item barcodes or other product informationcan be entered into point-of-sale terminal 12 via keyboard 30 or scanner32, which, in one embodiment, is capable of reading UPC or bar codes offof the purchases. Alternatively, point-of-sale terminal 12 includes aradio frequency identification (RFID) device capable of reading and/orregistering cost data and other purchase data. The information enteredinto point-of-sale terminal 12 can be viewed by a worker or associate ofthe retail establishment and/or a consumer via monitor 34. Finally, uponcompletion of the financial transaction or upon each addition of a newpurchase or item to the point-of-sale terminal 12, printer 36 printstransaction details to a receipt 38 including a list of the purchasesprocessed as well as the cash or amounts charged to the consumer'sfinancial account to pay for the registered purchases. In oneembodiment, receipt 38 includes a printout of a digitally capturedsignature, as will be further described below.

Financial transaction terminal 14 is a financial transaction card readerin communication with at least one financial institution network. Assuch, in one embodiment, financial transaction terminal 14 includes afinancial transaction card reception slot 40 for at least partiallyreceiving financial transaction card 22. In particular, financialtransaction card 22 includes a magnetic strip 24 along one side offinancial transaction card 22 including a magnetic representation of theinformation necessary to access the consumer financial account linked toor associated with financial transaction card 22. Accordingly, receptionslot 40 extends along a side of financial transaction terminal 14 andincludes a reading mechanism capable of accessing magnetic strip 24 toobtain necessary information from financial transaction card 22.Financial transaction terminal 14 is configured to selectively receivefinancial transaction card 22 as financial transaction card 22 is slidfrom a first end 42 of reception slot 40 to a second end 44 of receptionslot 40. As financial transaction card 22 is slid from first end 42 tosecond end 44 of reception slot 40, the information on magnetic strip 24is read by financial transaction terminal 14 and the associatedfinancial account is electronically accessed based upon the informationfrom the magnetic strip 24.

Alternatively, in one embodiment, financial transaction terminal 14includes an alternative financial transaction card reception slot 46instead of financial transaction card reception slot 40. Financialtransaction card reception slot 46 is positioned at one end of financialtransaction terminal 14 and is configured to receive financialtransaction card 22 and to pull financial transaction card 22 fullywithin financial transaction terminal 14 for reading information frommagnetic strip 24 of financial transaction card 22 to access theassociated financial account.

Financial transaction terminal 14 additionally includes a userinterface, monitor, or touch screen 48 on a top surface 45 of financialtransaction terminal 14. Touch screen 48 is configured to relayinformation to the consumer or to the worker or associate of the retailestablishment utilizing financial transaction terminal 14. In oneembodiment, touch screen 48 also is configured to be contacted by stylus16 to enter information into financial transaction terminal 14. Inparticular, financial transaction terminal 14 may exhibit buttons suchas button 62 in FIG. 3 on touch screen 48 that can be pressed orotherwise selected with stylus 16. In one embodiment, stylus 16 is anelongated, pencil-like member including a pointed end configured tocontact touch screen 48. In addition, touch screen 48 may display boxesfor receiving written information or signatures. Touch screen 48 iscapable of presenting different touch buttons and messages to a userthroughout the transaction approval process.

One embodiment of a method of sale 50 is generally illustrated withreference to FIG. 2. At 52, the purchases to be sold to the consumerbegin to be processed. In particular, in one embodiment, at 52, theproduct codes of the purchases are entered into point-of-sale terminal12 by the worker of the retail establishment or the consumer via scanner32, manually via keyboard 30, RFID device, or other entry device orsystem.

While purchases are being processed for sale at 52, touch screen 48displays a message giving the consumer an option to initiate thefinancial transaction. In one embodiment, the message notifying theconsumer that they may initiate the transaction is a message such as“PLEASE INSERT CARD” as illustrated in FIG. 1. If, at 54, the consumerdecides to initiate the transaction, the consumer slides financialtransaction card 22 through reception slot 40 or inserts financialtransaction card 22 into reception slot 46 of financial transactionterminal 14 at 56. In one embodiment, only one financial transactioncard reception slot 40 or 46 exists and, therefore, financialtransaction card 22 must be inserted into or slide through the financialtransaction card reception slot 40 or 46 existing in the particularfinancial transaction terminal 14 of transaction approval system 10.

Once the financial transaction card 22 is inserted, financialtransaction terminal 14 interfaces with magnetic strip 24 to readinformation from magnetic strip 24. More specifically, financialtransaction terminal 14 reads the information from magnetic strip 24 toremotely identify the financial institution or a financial networkassociated with the consumer financial account linked to financialtransaction card 22. In one embodiment, transaction approval system 10uses the information to determine the type of financial transaction card22 that has been inserted, more specifically, whether the financialtransaction card 22 is a debit card, a credit card, stored-value card,etc. Alternatively, upon insertion of financial transaction card 22, inone embodiment, transaction approval system 10 prompts the consumer toidentify the type of financial transaction card 22 that has beeninserted.

Accordingly, following insertion of financial transaction card 22 intofinancial transaction terminal 14, at 58 the consumer decides whether heor she wishes to begin the transaction approval process. In particular,at 58, touch screen 48 presents the consumer with confirmation approvalpage or graphical interface 59 indicating that upon approval by theconsumer, the consumer agrees to pay for all charges incurred inaccordance with the cardholder agreement with the financial institutionholding the financial account linked to financial transaction card 22,as illustrated in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, graphical interface 59 ontouch screen 48 includes a signature block 60, for receiving a consumersignature, and/or a transaction confirmation button 62.

In one embodiment, graphical user interface 59 additionally includes acharge box 64 for indicating whether the total charges or cost ofpurchases have been determined and, if so, what the total charges are.At 58, charge box 64 is empty, indicating that the total charges for thepurchases have not yet been determined (i.e. purchases are still beingprocessed and a final, total charge has not yet been determined). In oneembodiment, the empty charge box 64 is yellow or another bright color todraw consumer attention to the fact that the total charges are not yetdetermined. In one embodiment, once the total charges are computed, thecolor of charge box 64 is changed or removed. Alternatively, in oneembodiment, charge box 64 remains a consistent color when empty and whendisplaying the total cost. Graphical interface 59 displayed by financialtransaction terminal 14 as illustrated in FIG. 3 allows the consumer todetermine whether or not they wish to continue approving the transactionat 58.

More specifically, the objects displayed on touch screen 48 at thispoint allow the consumer to decide whether or not to provide a consumersignature within signature block 60 immediately or to wait until asubsequent time in the method of sale 50. In particular, if the consumerchooses to continue approving the transaction, then at 70 the consumerprovides and transaction approval system 10 receives a signature 72within signature block 60 as illustrated with reference to FIG. 4. Ifthe consumer chooses not to continue approving the transaction at thistime, the method 50 continues to 78 where processing of the purchases iscompleted, as will be further described below. Once signature 72 of theconsumer is provided, the consumer determines whether or not they wishto finalize approval of the transaction at 74.

If the consumer decides to continue the transaction approval process,then at 76 the consumer provides and the transaction approval system 10receives final transaction approval or confirmation. If the consumerdecides not to continue the transaction approval process, method 50continues to 78 to complete processing of the purchases, as will befurther described below. In one embodiment, the consumer provides finaltransaction approval by contacting confirmation button 62 of graphicaluser interface 59 with stylus 16. Contacting confirmation button 62 alsosignifies to financial transaction terminal 14 that the consumer hasfinished providing signature 72. At 78, following receipt of the finaltransaction approval, processing of the purchases is completed and thetotal cost of the processed goods is displayed in charge box 64 asillustrated in FIG. 5. In one embodiment, display box 64, once coloredto indicate that total charges had not yet been determined, optionallychanges or removes the color once the cost is displayed in box 64. Inother embodiments, box 64 remains yellow or otherwise highlighted.

Following calculation of the total cost of purchases, the financialtransaction terminal 14 uses the information from magnetic strip 24 offinancial transaction card 22 to access the financial institution ornetwork associated with the inserted financial transaction card 22 at79. The financial institution or network provides the financialtransaction terminal 14 with an indication of whether the financialaccount is sufficiently funded or authorized to support the currenttransaction. In particular, the financial institution or networkprovides an authorization to use the financial account or an indicationthat use of the financial account is declined. If the financialinstitution or network authorizes the current transaction the method ofsale 50 continues.

At 80, data terminal 14 determines whether transaction approval iscomplete. If transaction approval is determined to be complete, then at82 the transaction is completed by transferring funds, or at least anelectronic representation of funds, or by authorizing such a transfer,from the consumer financial account linked to financial transaction card22 to a financial account associated with the retail establishment. Uponconclusion of the financial transaction printed receipt 38 is created orfinished and provided to the consumer detailing the purchases and thefinancial transaction. In one embodiment, printed receipt 38 includes aprinted form of signature 72 digitally provided to financial transactionterminal 14. Upon completion of the financial transaction, the consumeris free to take the purchases from the retail establishment to their caror other desired location outside of or away from the retail setting.

If, at 54, the consumer decided not to begin the authorization process50 or if at 58 or 74 the consumer decided not to continue thetransaction approval process, the method of sale 50 continues directlyto step 78 in which, as described above, processing of the purchases iscompleted and the total cost of the processed purchases is provided tothe consumer, for example, by display of the cost within cost displaybox 64 as illustrated in FIG. 6. At 80, transaction approval system 10determines if transaction approval is complete.

If, at 80, transaction approval system 10 determines that thetransaction authorization is not complete (as it will if the consumerchose not to begin or finish the transaction or approval process at 54,58, or 74), the method of sale 50 continues to 84. At 84, transactionapproval system 10 determines whether financial transaction card 22 hasor has not yet been inserted into financial transaction terminal 14 toinitiate the transaction. If financial transaction card 22 has not yetbeen inserted into financial transaction terminal 14, transactionapproval system 10 will continue to prompt the consumer to enterfinancial transaction card 22 into financial transaction terminal 14 viatouch screen 48. At 86, a consumer eventually inserts financialtransaction card 22 into financial transaction terminal 14.

As described above, upon insertion of financial transaction card 22,financial transaction terminal 14 interfaces with magnetic strip 24 toread the information from magnetic strip 24 to remotely identify thefinancial institution or at least a financial network associated withthe financial account linked to financial transaction card 22. In oneembodiment, transaction approval system 10 uses the information todetermine the type of financial transaction card 22 that has beeninserted, and more specifically, whether the financial transaction card22 is a debit card, a credit card, a stored-value card, etc.Alternatively, upon insertion of financial transaction card 22, in oneembodiment, transaction approval system 10 prompts the consumer toidentify the type of financial transaction card 22 that has beeninserted.

At 88, following insertion of financial transaction card 22 into cardterminal 14, the consumer is prompted to provide consumer signature 72via graphical interface 59 in a similar manner as described above withrespect to receiving consumer signature 72 at 70. Following 88, in oneembodiment, the consumer is presented with graphical interface 59 ontouch screen 48, such as that illustrated in FIG. 5. At 90, the consumerprovides and transaction approval system 10 receives final transactionapproval, and the consumer acknowledges consumer signature 72 iscomplete by contacting touch screen 48, more particularly, byinteraction with final approval button 62 via stylus 16. At 82, thefunds are transferred or authorized to be transferred and receipt 38 isprinted to complete the transaction. Once the transaction is complete,the consumer is free to leave the retail establishment with thepurchases and receipt 38 in hand.

Alternatively, if at 84 it is determined that financial transaction card22 has already been inserted into financial transaction terminal 14,transaction approval system 10 determines, at 92, whether consumersignature 72 has yet been received. If the consumer signature has notyet been provided, the method of sale 50 continues to 88 where consumersignature 72 is provided in signature box 60. Continuing once again to90, final transaction approval is provided for receipt by transactionapproval system 10 via consumer contact with approval button 62 viastylus 16, and the transaction is completed at 82 as described above.

If, at 92, transaction approval system 10 determines that a consumersignature 72 has already been received, the method of sale 50 continuesdirectly to 90 where final transaction approval is provided by theconsumer as described above. Once again, following final transactionapproval, the transaction is completed at 82, and a consumer is providedwith receipt 38, thereby leaving the consumer free to leave the retailestablishment with the purchases and receipt 38 in hand.

A transaction approval system and method of sale, according toembodiments of the present invention, allow the consumer to decide whento start and finish consumer approval of a financial transaction. Inparticular, in order to speed the transaction process, a consumer canprovide a signature and final transaction approval prior to the finalprocessing of all the purchases. However, in other instances, a consumermay provide a signature while the purchases are being processed, butwait to provide final transaction approval until the total charges havebeen determined. In yet another instance, a consumer may wait until thetotal charge for the purchases is determined before providing asignature and a final transaction approval.

Although the invention has been described with respect to particularembodiments, such embodiments are for illustrative purposes only andshould not be considered to limit the invention. Various alternativesand changes will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Forexample, other display screens or buttons may be presented to a consumerin order to provide the consumer with a two or three point transactionapproval process that can be entered into at a time chosen by theconsumer. In addition, one or more retail employees can prompt theconsumer to complete one or more tasks in the process. Additionalmodifications and changes will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of processing a retail salestransaction, the method comprising: processing a plurality of items forpurchase using a point-of-sale terminal that is part of a transactionapproval system at a point of sale in a retail store, wherein:processing the plurality of items for purchase includes using thetransaction approval system to determine associated price informationfor each item included in the plurality of items for purchase based onidentifiers associated with the plurality of items for purchase,processing the plurality of items for purchase begins when informationregarding an identifier of a first one of the plurality of items forpurchase is entered into the point-of-sale terminal, and processing theplurality of items for purchase ends when information regarding theidentifiers associated with the plurality of items for purchase has beenentered into the point-of-sale terminal and all the associated priceinformation for each item included in the plurality of items forpurchase has been determined; before processing the plurality of itemsfor purchase ends, providing an offer, via the transaction approvalsystem, to electronically receive from a consumer at least one of anidentification of a financial account that will be used by the consumerto pay for the plurality of items for purchase and approval from theconsumer to charge the total cost to the financial account; afterprocessing the plurality of items for purchase ends, determining thetotal cost of the plurality of items for purchase using thepoint-of-sale terminal; and if the consumer did not provide one or moreof identification of the financial account and approval to charge to thefinancial account in response to the offer before the total cost isdetermined, then, after determining the total cost of the plurality ofitems for purchase, using the transaction approval system toelectronically prompt the consumer for and to electronically receivefrom the consumer at least one of the identification of the financialaccount that will be used by the consumer to pay for the plurality ofitems for purchase and approval from the consumer to charge the totalcost to the financial account.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: after providing the offer and during processing of theplurality of items for purchase, electronically capturing the approvalfrom the consumer using the transaction approval system such that theconsumer is free from providing another approval to complete purchase ofthe plurality of items after the total cost is determined.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein electronically capturing the approval of theconsumer is completed substantially free from assistance from a retailstore employee operating the point-of-sale terminal.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the approval includes a signature of the consumer. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the identification of thefinancial account is completed substantially free from assistance from aretail store employee operating the point-of-sale terminal.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the transaction approval system includes afinancial transaction terminal in electrical communication with thepoint-of-sale terminal, the financial transaction terminal having afinancial transaction terminal display facing in a different directionthan a point-of-sale terminal display of the point-of-sale terminal, theoffer and the prompt are each visually performed using the financialtransaction terminal display, and providing the offer includes visuallyindicating that the total cost of the plurality of items for purchasehas not yet been determined.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein visuallyindicating that the total cost of the plurality of items for purchasehas not yet been determined includes displaying an empty total costfield on the user interface.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein: usingthe transaction approval system to electronically prompt the consumerincludes using the financial transaction terminal to visually indicatethe total cost in the location of the financial transaction terminaldisplay previously occupied by the empty total cost field.
 9. The methodof claim 6, wherein: receiving the identification of the financialaccount is completed substantially free from assistance from a retailstore employee operating the point-of-sale terminal, and the methoddecreases an amount of time the consumer needs to spend at the point ofsale in the retail store to complete the retail sales transaction. 10.The method of claim 6, wherein: the financial transaction terminalincludes a reception slot, and receiving the identification of thefinancial account includes receiving a financial transaction card fromthe consumer via the reception slot such that the transaction approvalsystem can determine the identification of the financial account byreading from the financial transaction card.
 11. The method of claim 6,further comprising visually presenting the total cost to the consumervia the financial transaction terminal display after determining thetotal cost of the plurality of items for purchase using thepoint-of-sale terminal.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:completing the retail sales transaction after determining the total costof the plurality of items for purchase, wherein the consumer is free totake the plurality of items for purchase from the retail store onlyafter completing the retail sales transaction; wherein the retail salestransaction is completed in a single visit by the consumer to the pointof sale in the retail store.
 13. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving authorization from a financial institutionsupporting the financial account that the financial account issufficiently funded to support the retail sales transaction for thetotal cost of the plurality of items for purchase; and charging thetotal cost of the plurality of items for purchase against the financialaccount.
 14. A method of performing a retail sales transaction using atransaction approval system including a point-of-sale terminal and afinancial transaction terminal, the method comprising steps performed inthe following order: using the point-of-sale terminal to determine anidentity of a first one of a plurality of goods being purchased by aconsumer based on a product code of the first one of the plurality ofgoods to begin the retail sales transaction; using the financialtransaction terminal to determine an identity of a financial accountbased on a financial transaction card presented to the financialtransaction terminal by the consumer; using the financial transactionterminal to present to the consumer an opportunity to provide finalapproval to charge a total price for all of the plurality of goods tothe financial account; using the point-of-sale terminal to determine anidentity of a last one of the plurality of goods being purchased by theconsumer based on a product code of the last one of the plurality ofgoods; determining a total price for all of the plurality of goods beingpurchased by the consumer; if the consumer did not provide finalapproval in response to the opportunity being presented to the consumer,visually prompting the consumer to provide the final approval using thefinancial transaction terminal; if the consumer did not provide finalapproval in response to the opportunity being presented to the consumer,electronically receiving the final approval; and charging the totalprice of all the plurality of goods to the financial account.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein presenting the consumer the opportunity toprovide the final approval to charge the total price for all of theplurality of goods to the financial account is preformed simultaneouslywith using the financial transaction terminal to visually indicate tothe consumer that the total price has not yet been determined.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, wherein electronically receiving the final approvalincludes electronically receiving a consumer confirmation to charge thetotal price to the financial account via the financial transactionterminal.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein: the transaction approvalsystem is located within a retail store, and the consumer is free totake the goods from the retail store only after charging the total priceof all of the plurality of goods to the financial account issubstantially completed.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein: thefinancial transaction terminal includes a user interface, and the methodfurther comprises: prior to determining the total price of all of theplurality of goods and while using the financial transaction terminal topresent the consumer the opportunity, visually indicating to theconsumer via the user interface that the total price has not yet beendetermined, and after determining the total price of all of theplurality of goods, visually indicating the total price to the consumervia the user interface of the financial transaction terminal whilevisually prompting the consumer to provide the final approval using thefinancial transaction terminal.
 19. A method of processing a retailsales transaction in a retail store, the method comprising: processing aplurality of items for purchase using a point-of-sale terminal includingdetermining associated price information for each item included in theplurality of items for purchase, wherein processing the plurality ofitems begins by determining price information for a first one of theplurality of items for purchase and is completed when a total price ofall the plurality of items for purchase is determined; after beginningand before completing processing the plurality of items for purchase,receiving a financial transaction card via a financial transactionterminal coupled with the point-of-sale terminal and reading thefinancial transaction card to determine an identification of a financialaccount that will be used by a consumer to pay for the plurality ofitems for purchase; after receiving the financial transaction card andbefore completing processing, using the financial transaction terminalto display to the consumer a first opportunity to provide final approvalto charge the total price of the plurality of items for purchase to thefinancial account after the total price is determined; after completingprocessing of the plurality of items for purchase and receiving thefinancial transaction card, determining the total price of the pluralityof items for purchase; where the consumer did not use the firstopportunity to provide final approval, using the financial transactionterminal to display to the consumer a second opportunity to provide thefinal approval to charge the total price of the plurality of items tothe financial account and receiving the total approval via the financialtransaction terminal, wherein using the financial transaction terminalto display to the consumer the second opportunity includes displayingthe total price substantially simultaneously with displaying theconsumer the second opportunity; and charging the total price of theplurality of items for purchase to the financial account.
 20. The methodof claim 19, wherein using the financial transaction terminal to displayto the consumer the first opportunity to provide the final approval isperformed substantially simultaneously with using the financialtransaction terminal to display an indication that the total cost iscurrently undetermined.